Dear Families:

It has been so wonderful to be back in school with your children! It's like the start of school all over again!

We had one Virtual Open House this week and we have one more scheduled for new, prospective families to MSES on February 16th. Our Virtual Open House will begin at 10:00am. Please feel free to join us and share your thoughts with other parents. We are accepting out-of-district applicants to MSES through March 31st.

On Monday, February 15th, we do not have school in honor of President's Day. On Thursday, February 18th, we have early release at 12:30 and no school on Friday, February 19th so we can conference with you and your child. Teachers have sent out links for the meetings. Be sure to join so we celebrate your child together.

We are continuing our safety precautions at MSES. You can support us by dropping off your child with a mask no earlier than 7:45am.

Have a restful three day weekend!

FuelED families:

We hope you all are doing well and having a lot of success.

• Class picture day was rescheduled due to weather concerns - there will be an opportunity for individual picture retakes on March 30th. More details to come.
• Free lunch is still available to all FuelED families in front of the school from 11-12, Monday through Friday.
  

Stephanie Wilson, our School Counselor at Ute Pass Elementary and District Support Counselor created a video to support our FuelEd families. Check out the video below!

Introducing our new Health Tech at MSES, Malissa Burnell!

A graduate of Manitou Springs School District, I am so glad to be back in the district as a Health Tech. I have a passion for helping others and am excited to be able to meet and help students while I plan for a future career in healthcare. Having previously earned my degree in Spanish, I enjoy learning new things, meeting new people, and making lasting connections. In my free time I love to explore our beautiful state through kayaking, hiking, and walking my dog. I am so excited to be back in the district, and look forward to meeting students and having a great year!

Lasagna Love is a program that offers a free lasagna dinner to families in need! Whether it's because a family has some food insecurities, or that life has just been flipped upside-down and cooking a meal is the last thing someone is able to think about or do - anyone can sign up to receive a meal. If you are interested in sponsoring a lasagna chef or volunteer to cook lasagna for families in need, or if your family could use a hand with dinner one night in the coming weeks - go to the Lasagna Love website to find out more!

Read about what's happening in our grade-level and exploratory classes at MSES!

Preschool: The afternoon class learned about what it means to be the President and talked about former presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Barack Obama. Ask your expert what is the name of the building where the current president lives? (The White House.) What was Abraham Lincoln’s nickname? (Honest Abe.) What does it mean to be honest? (To tell the truth.) In Dinosaur School this week, Wally came to visit and we talked about the feeling of love and being cared for. We played a feelings game, and acted out what the feeling looks and sounds like.

Kindergarten: What are the four seasons? (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall/Autumn). What are some characteristics, or ways to describe each season? (Answers will vary…winter is cold and snowy, spring is when trees and flowers begin to bloom, summer is hot, fall is when leaves change colors on trees). What are some activities you can do in each season? (Answers will vary… During the winter you can build snowmen or go sledding. In the spring you can fly kites; baby animals are born. In the summer you can go swimming and eat ice cream. In the fall, school starts and you can play in the leaves). What is your favorite season? Why? (Answers will vary).

Kindness Challenge: Write a special valentine note to someone special to you but don’t sign your name. Hide it somewhere so they can find it. Tell them why they are special or what you like about them. This is a great way to fill someone’s bucket! How will you feel when you leave this secret note? How do you think the person will feel after reading your special message?

1st Grade: First graders are studying the history of the Earth! This week, we learned more about what makes up our home, the Earth. We also learned about the layers of the Earth and what changes are at work inside of it! Ask your expert what are the three important words we should think about when studying geology? (Heat, pressure, time.) On which layer of the Earth do we live? (The crust.) What are the names of all the layers of the Earth? (Crust, mantle, outer core, inner core.) How are volcanoes and geysers alike and different? (Both have eruptions caused by heat and pressure inside the earth; volcanoes are an eruption of lava while geysers are an eruption of steam and hot water.)

2nd Grade: Second graders are learning more about the expansion of the United States to the west. Ask your expert to tell you who was Sequoyah? (A Cherokee Native who invented a writing system for his language.) What was the Trail of Tears? (The removal of Native Americans from the southeast to Oklahoma. It was forced on them, and they walked the entire way with the army escorting them.) What are wagon ruts? (The deep grooves in the ground where wagons had passed heading west on The Oregon Trail.) What was the Pony Express? (A venture of delivering the mail using a horse and a young man.) Where did it begin and end? (It began in St. Joseph, Missouri and ended in Sacramento, California.) Did this last? (No, the telegraph poles and wires were being built and put the Express out of business in 18 months.) What has been the best part of Westward Expansion so far? (Answers will vary)

3rd Grade: Third graders have taken a rocket into outer space! We have started learning about our planet earth and our solar system. Ask your expert: Why is the sun not classified as a planet? (The sun does not orbit around a star; the sun makes its own light) Why is earth classified as a planet? (It is a sphere with a large mass; it orbits a star; it has cleared most objects from its path; it is made of rock and gas) How many planets are in our solar system? (eight) Can you name the eight planets in order from the sun? (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) What other celestial bodies can be found in our solar system besides the sun and its planets? (dwarf planets, comets, asteroids, meteoroids, moons)

4th Grade: Fourth Graders are continuing their exploration of Geology! This week, they are reading about volcanoes through both nonfiction texts and folktales from around North America. We are also learning about “Earth’s building blocks”, the three rock types! Ask your expert: What goes on below Earth’s surface to form a volcano? (Tremendous pressure and heat forces magma to move upward through the crack in Earth’s surface.) What is the difference between magma and lava? (Magma is below Earth’s crust, and lava is magma that has erupted.) What are the three rock types? (Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock.) BONUS QUESTION! What are the three types of volcanoes? Act them out! (Active volcanoes have erupted within the past 10,000 years; Dormant - still active, but haven’t erupted in a while; Extinct - have not erupted for at least 10,000 years.)

5th Grade: Fifth grade is beginning our unit on The Renaissance. We started off with a quick refresher of the Middle Ages. Throughout this unit we will explore the amazing artwork and architecture that grew out of the Renaissance time period! Ask your expert what were some of the key aspects of the middle ages? (Disease, bad sewer situation, knights, death, etc.) What does "Renaissance" mean? (Rebirth, renewal, refreshing.) Where did the Renaissance movement begin? (Italy.) What group of people grew out of the middle ages and flourished during the Renaissance? (The middle class.) Who were patrons? (Patrons were wealthy citizens who financially supported artists in exchange for their pieces of artwork.)

Art: Kindergartners are learning how artists use the Elements of Art (line, shape, color, texture, space, value and form) to represent the seasons and weather. This week they have practiced drawing and painting the season and weather elements of winter (snowman, snowflakes, wind, winter trees, etc.).

Spanish: Among other topics, the students are learning about these features:

María es una mona/María is a monkey.

Ella es especial/she is special.

Le gusta saltar/she likes to jump.

Music: First grade musicians are beginning a unit on African American music. This week, we will be exploring spirituals, jazz, work songs, blues, and gospel. We are playing "When the Saints Go Marching In" on keyboards, getting familiar and comfortable with an emphasis on beats 2 and 4, writing an original song, and playing bucket drums. Ask your expert which style or artist they enjoyed learning about this week.

PE: We are finishing up our juggling unit with 2nd graders, and will be starting our basketball unit next week…..if you get a chance, you can check out the videos on my canvas page for physical education….as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

rniebuhr@mssd14.org

TEAMS: This week in TEAMS fourth grade students designed a Mosque using a program called Tinkercad. The students studied Islamic Empires for their CKLA unit in class and used shapes with specific measurements to create their own Mosque. Feel free to ask your child to show you their work!

Fifth graders designed a Mayan Temple as they studies Early American Civilizations. They also used the Tinkercad program to create their masterpiece using specific measurements. The students learned how precise they had to be when designing or their temple would not stand correctly. Check out their work!

https://www.tinkercad.com/login

Goldman-29IJ9YYKUKJD

Larsen-58IVZTGZ68D7

Marquardt-HY8XHWXR3SN4

Mussi- C5QIB6F159FM

Embery- NUQKR6ZMH8SJ

Delarm-QFF1SK5AL3VR

Reading/Math Intervention: In first grade reading intervention, we are working on decoding skills, practicing sight words, and reading leveled stories for fluency and comprehension.

Check out the flyer below for a fun project from Ms. Romano! Reach out to her with any questions at jromano@mssd14.org.

Breakfast and Lunch Menus

We ask that everyone continue to use the MSSD COVID Intake Form. This form is used only for students and staff who are absent due to unexplained or unexpected illness. This new process allows us to have consistent communication with staff and parents, which ultimately contributes to a stronger contact tracing process and the continuation of in-person learning. Click the link below to access the form:

• Feb 15 - No School - President's Day

• Feb 16 - Manitou Springs Elementary School Virtual Open House, 10:00 am
  
• Feb 18 - Student Early Release at 12:30 pm - Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Feb 19 - No School - Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Mar 3 - No School - Staff Work Day
• Mar 22 - 26 - Spring Break
  

Dear MSES Parents and Guardians:

We are currently working to organize the PAC, Parent Action Committee, for the remainder of the school year to build communication with the families and support our astounding teachers, staff, and students. The purpose of PAC is to represent the families and encourage one another as a community. During a typical school year, we would send information about various fundraising activities and opportunities. This year looks a little different, but we would still like PAC to be available for community support, a place to ask questions, retrieve information and build up support for Manitou Springs Elementary School.

If you would like to receive notifications and emails from the Parent Action Committee, please email msespac@gmail.com with your name and email, giving permission to send information and notifications to your email.

If you would like to be a part of the Parent Action Committee by being a member and attending meetings, please contact msespac@gmail.com with your name and email, and someone will contact you with meeting times and opportunities to get involved.

Thank you for being a part of the Manitou Springs Elementary School community! We look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Angie Karr

Please consider participating in our grocery fundraising program! There is no cost to you, and MSES receives funding for school activities if you register your grocery card. Read below for the easy instructions. Thank you!

Full-color, 52 pages! $24.00 each

To order with debit/credit card, please go to:

https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/

Enter School ID: 9518221

or search for our school

To pay with cash or check, email mwoytko@mssd14.org for an order form or send it in an envelope with your child's name and teacher name.

Please call or email with any questions. 719-685-2172 or mwoytko@mssd14.org